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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS War Hawk (AP-168)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Delta - Quebec - India
 NDQI
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Lingayen Gulf, 10 January 1945) - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
Personnel Awards

Purple Heart (61-KIA, Lingayen Gulf, 10 January 1945)
La Salle Class Transport:
  • Laid down, 24 December 1942, as SS War Hawk, a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-B1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1154), at Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, CA.
  • Launched, 3 April 1943
  • Commissioned USS War Hawk (AP-168), 9 March 1944, CDR. Stanley H. Thompson, USNR, in command
  • During WWII USS War Hawk was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 to 22 June 1944
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 29 July 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 to 10 January 1945
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 22 October, 18 November 1944     		 

  • Following World War II USS War Hawk was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    3 to 6 November 19457 to 24 November 1945
    14 January to 1 February 194630 May to 5 July 1946
    23 March to 5 April 1946 

  • Decommissioned, 12 August 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 13 August 1946, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Olympia, WA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 8 October 1946
  • Acquired by Waterman Steamship Co. Inc., Mobile, AL, 4 February 1948
  • Acquired by Ocean Transportation Co. Inc., N.Y. in 1964 and renamed SS Ocean Dinny
  • Acquired by Overseas Carrier Corp., 1966 and renamed SS Overseas Dinny
  • Dropped from the American Shipping Board Register, 1970
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1971
  • USS War Hawk received three battle stars for her World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 6,556 t.(lt) 13,910 t.(fl), 12,200 t.(lim)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 23' (lim)
    Speed 16.5 kts (trial).
    Complement
    Officers 24
    Enlisted 252
    Troop Accommodations
    Officers 75
    Enlisted 1,500
    Cargo Capacity 130,000 Cu. ft.
    Armament
    four single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    twelve single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 10,300Bbls
    Diesel 880Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric steam turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler D-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear
    Ships Service Generators, three turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 6,000hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USS War Hawk (AP-168)
    War Hawk 33k USS War Hawk (AP-168) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII web site
    War Hawk 29k USS War Hawk (AP-168) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII web site
    Commercial Service
    War Hawk 317k Stern view of ex-USS War Hawk (AP-168) in commercial service as the Ocean Transportation Co.'s SS Ocean Dinny working cargo at Bremerhaven, Germany in August 1964. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    USS War Hawk (AP-168)
    DANFS history entry located at Navsource with additional comments by James S Alumbaugh MoMM2/c USNR
    USS War Hawk
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Thompson, Stanley Hudson USNR9 March 1944 - December 1945
    01CAPT. Bacon Jr., Barton ElijahDecember 1945 - 12 August 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 15 February 2013